Jail Library Group wins award for nifty service project
Katie Gilbert
Library Communications
The average jail offers little freedom to its inmates, although they reside there for only a short time. They cannot leave without permission, cannot see their families unless they're behind bulletproof glass and have virtually no privacy.
But a group of graduate students from the School of Library and Information Studies offers a ray of sunshine in one of the simplest forms possible: books. Members of the Jail Library Group bring their love of literature to the jails in the Public Safety Building and the City County Building in Madison, allowing inmates to check out and read books and magazines. These inmates cannot check out books at public libraries, so these students bring the libraries to them. For this service, the group was recognized at the 2003 South Central Library System Celebration Sept. 25. The Jail Library Group, which serves more than 1,000 inmates in the two jails combined, received the Chester Pismo Snavely Memorial Award for a Nifty Activity, given to a person or group for a special project. The Jail Library Group also received a Presidential "Point of Light" Service Award in 1999, given to19 groups out of more than 3,000 applicants.
Current SLIS library director Michele Besant, then a
SLIS graduate student, and Mike Exum, a graduate student in the adult
education program, started the JLG in 1992 as a practicum experience for
classes. Besant took an interest in “underserved populations,”
and the inmate population certainly qualified, as the Dane
County jails received no previous library service. Last year, the program
celebrated its 10th anniversary, overcoming challenges such as a constantly
changing group of graduate students and a small budget.
"It's something of a wonder that the group has continued for more than a decade, despite the fact that each student only stays in the program for about three years," SLIS graduate student and Jail Library Group volunteer Kathy Miner says. "We have to keep reinventing ourselves, but somehow, it works!"
(Photo: Miner (center) and Bringelson receive an award from
SCLS Board of Trustee President Tom Brown.
Photograph courtesy SCLS.)
Another challenge the Jail Library Group faces is operating on a tight budget. Books are usually donated or purchased at book sales and the JLG raises money through fund-raisers, such as selling coffee and bagels every Monday morning from 7:30-11 a.m. in the SLIS Commons in Helen C. White Hall. The group collects books at the entrance to College Library, the Center for Instructional Materials and Computing and at the Dane County Law Library, located on the third floor of the City County Building. Volunteers distribute the books to the jail housing units once a week and fill out individual requests submitted by inmates. In addition to the book carts and crates, inmates made more than 1,800 individual requests for books and magazines in the two jail facilities last year. Miner attempts to fill these submissions, which can be a challenge, as the collection is comprised mostly of donations.
The most requested authors in 2002 included Stephen King, V. C. Andrews, Mary Higgins Clark and John Grisham. This fall, the group has compiled an Amazon.com wish list with a list of desired books. According to Miner, she receives a variety of requests for various books and genres, including dictionaries, poetry books, science fiction and fantasy, horror and romance.
"Jail inmates want to read the same variety of materials as anybody else," Miner says. "The very first request I filled was for an art history book, and since then I've located books on origami, anxiety disorders, volcanoes, sign language -- you name it."
The Jail Library Group not only delivers books to the prison, it allows inmates to read books to their children through a program called Kids' Connection, a service created in 1997 for inmates in the Public Safety Building. Inmates record themselves reading a book and send the tape and book to their children, allowing them to stay in touch with their families.
Both Miner and Carin Bringelson, another SLIS graduate
student and volunteer, got involved through a combination of word of mouth
and a love of activism.
“Bright, articulate students with similar political leanings to
mine would bring it up often in class discussion,” Bringelson says.
“It seemed like the group to be associated with, given my desire
for social justice.”
Students who participate must go though a background check and an orientation to prepare them for volunteering. Through the program, students receive lessons in managing a budget, maintaining a collection and doing publicity, all tasks that will assist them in future library careers.
Bringelson’s job is to fill milk crates with books and magazines for the inmates and answer requests while she is at the jail. She also processes books and empties donation bins outside of the jails. Many inmates appreciate the service, although not all of them use the library.
"What little contact I have with inmates, I do get the impression that they desire reading materials and really appreciate any response/materials we can give them," Bringelson says. "They are generally polite and patient with me."
The JLG not only educates inmates through books but educates the volunteers as well.
"Being involved with the Jail Library Group has been the most worthwhile thing I've done while in the library school," Miner says. "It's been a chance to do one small thing to make the world a better place."
"I have learned to value my freedom of movement, to breath fresh air every chance I get, to show compassion for people in nasty situations, and that books are not sacred--people are," Bringleson says.
To learn more about the Jail Library Group, visit: http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~jail/.
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